"Sola" means "only" ... as in sole survivor is lone survivor minus the books James, Hebrew, Jude and Revelation.
...minus the books James, Hebrew, Jude and Revelation.
Nonsense. ALL of these four books are listed in Luther's translation of the Bible:
Yes, at one point Luther had some misgivings on these books. But the Reformation didn't occur in a moment. Luther himself had to transition out of being trained in monk "monkery" (as he referenced it) into the reformer God utilized.
Examples of how he "came around" on these other books:
minus the books...Hebrews...
Martin Luther on Hebrews: "... a marvelously fine epistle. It discusses Christ's priesthood masterfully and profoundly on the basis of the Scriptures and extensively interprets the Old Testament in a fine way."
http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/dbpage=page&mode=display&gid=20052995655655607101111555&pg=20053492847576091301111555
minus...the books...Revelation...
"When Luther began, he was uncomfortable with the Book of Revelation. But as the Reformation went on and more and more opponents sprang up, he had difficulty, he became more and more interested in Revelation. And later in his life, he took it with the utmost seriousness, and even tried to figure out all the symbolism in it, to determine when the end of the world was going to come.
Mark Edwards, Jr.:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/explanation/martinluther.html
This is no different than many new preachers coming out of seminary or Bible school who take a while to start preaching from the Book of Revelation.
Yes, those books are included in the Luther Bible, but only because his followers insisted they remain in it. Nonetheless, he made sure they were placed at the end, where they still remain in the German Bible.
Luther loved parts of the Bible, and had an incredible contempt for other parts of the Bible. “James is an Epistle of straw”.
“The book of Esther I toss into the Elbe. I am such an enemy to the book of Esther that I wish it did not exist, for it Judaizes too much”
Despite his flaws, I will continue to honor the man and his 95 thesis every 3rd Monday of January.